A sealed bearing assembly for supporting a rotating shaft and, in particular, a crankshaft of a two-stroke engine includes an inner race, an outer race and a plurality of roller elements disposed between the inner and outer races. A grease seal is disposed between the inner and outer races and spaced axially outward from the roller elements along an axis of the bearing assembly. The grease seal includes a rigid support structure and a flexible sealing member attached to the rigid support structure. The flexible sealing member includes at least one sealing lip, which contacts a surface of the inner race to provide a sealing engagement between the grease seal and the inner race, thereby retaining lubrication in an interior of the bearing from escaping at least to an interior of a crankcase of the engine and sealing at least the interior of the bearing against crankcase pressure variations in the engine.
This application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/221,555, which was filed on Jul. 28, 2000. The contents of that provisional application are incorporated herein by reference.
